Trends in the Timing and Magnitude of Ice-Jam Floods in Canada

Prabin Rokaya,Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt,Sujata Budhathoki

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-24057-z

Prabin Rokaya, Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24057-z

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Abstract

Ice-jam floods (IJFs) are important hydrological and hydraulic events in the northern hemisphere that are of major concern for citizens, authorities, insurance companies and government agencies. In recent years, there have been advances in assessing and quantifying climate change impacts on river ice processes, however, an understanding of climate change and regulation impacts on the timing and magnitude of IJFs remains limited. This study presents a global overview of IJF case studies and discusses IJF risks in North America, one of the most IJF prone regions according to literature. Then an assessment of shifts in the timing and magnitude of IJFs in Canada is presented analyzing flow data from 1107 hydrometric stations across Canada for the period from 1903 to 2015. The analyses show clear signals of climate change and regulation impacts in the timing and magnitude of IJFs, particularly in small basins.

Highlights

Ice-jam floods (IJFs) are important hydrological and hydraulic events in the northern hemisphere that are of major concern for citizens, authorities, insurance companies and government agencies
In the US, the analyses of ice jam data from the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL)[22] shows that more frequent IJFs are observed in Alaska, New York, Montana, Vermont, Maine, Ohio and Nebraska, each state reporting more than 100 IJF events
Single IJF events are known to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in damages

Summary

Introduction

Ice-jam floods (IJFs) are important hydrological and hydraulic events in the northern hemisphere that are of major concern for citizens, authorities, insurance companies and government agencies. They are largely reported in Canada[6,7], United States[8,9], Russia[10,11], Poland[12,13] and China[14,15]. Most of these large-scale events in terms of economic losses have occurred in North America. In the US, the analyses of ice jam data from the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL)[22] shows that more frequent IJFs are observed in Alaska, New York, Montana, Vermont, Maine, Ohio and Nebraska, each state reporting more than 100 IJF events.

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